


There's no need to rush, my pace (Just follow my lane. Take it easy)

by BrookeJones_D



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV), The Umbrella Academy (TV) RPF
Genre: AU, Adoption, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Five and Vanya bonding, Fostering/Adoption, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of addiction, Other, POV Alternating, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Recovery, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, They all have issues, diego and klaus are in love, five being better than everyone, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 22:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20454800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrookeJones_D/pseuds/BrookeJones_D
Summary: AU in which Diego and Klaus are a couple, adopt a very weird boy named Five, Allison and Luther are unwilling participants in their shenanigans and Vanya is just along for the ride.Little snapshots of Diego and Klaus' life, before, during and after they adopt Five.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [love me insane](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18001007) by [holy_smokes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/holy_smokes/pseuds/holy_smokes). 

> Recently I read love my insane by holy_smokes and I really liked the concept so here we are. For clarification, Diego and Klaus are a couple, and they're not related. Vanya is Klaus' sister. Klaus and Vanya were both in the foster system and never managed to get adopted. Allison is Diego's cousin and Luther is her husband (no weird incest here) and Claire is their daughter.  
Their main lives remain pretty similar, Diego is a detective, Klaus is an artist (former junkie), Vanya is a violinist, Alisson in an actress and Luther is a (former) astronaut. Five is just a 14-year-old kid with a bad coffee addiction. Eudora is still alive and she's Diego's partner, but they never had anything romantic, she's good friends with both Diego and Klaus. Ben was Klaus childhood friend who died under mysterious consequences because my creativity is running low and it's 12:05 am.  
For reference, Diego is Grace's (and Reginald's, sad I know) son, and he's officially an Hargreeves. Alisson is also an Hargreeves (let's call it a family name?). Luther takes her last name when they marry and so does Klaus, and Five takes the name when he's adopted which means Vanya's the only one who's not an Hargreees in this story.

When Diego first met Klaus he thought 'fuck my life', when Klaus first met Diego he thought 'the night just got a whole lot more interesting'.

Klaus had been arrested for drug possession, and Diego had been the only available one at the station at the ungodly hours of the night (early morning?) that the whole thing went down.

Klaus, well Klaus couldn't stop talking. Couldn't, wouldn't who knew, the only thing Diego knew what that he had about 4 different reports to finish and the mumbling man in the holding cell was making his life unbearably more difficult.

"What the hell do I gotta do shut you up?" Diego called out, on his way to get what would be his third cup of coffee.

"Let me out?" Klaus responded in a hopeful voice.

Diego snorted in return "Nice try buddy."

"How about this, keep me a little company until I fall asleep and I'll leave you alone after. Deal?" "Deal."

Diego would find out later Klaus didn't like sleeping because that's when his ghosts haunted him. It's all turned out okay though because after that night Klaus never really had to sleep alone again.

///hello///goodbye///

It was roughly five years, two rehab sessions and one (messy) marriage proposal that Klaus brought up the idea of kids for the first time.

They'd be doing good the two of them, Diego was doing good as a detective (and his partner Eudora Patch could attest to that) and Klaus had developed a name for himself with his art, having works spread out through all kinds of different galleries throughout the globe. Turns out people could emphasize with the whole 'recovering drug addict who turned his life around' image.

"Dee, can I ask you something?" Klaus called out from where he was, laying down on the sofa with his feet on top of his husband's lap. Said husband was focused on a case, reading the same papers over and over again, so to say he was a little distracted was an understatement, so he simply hummed in agreement.

"Have you ever thought about having kids?" The artist mumbled the words out, as quickly as he could, scared of the others reaction.

"Klaus, I'm sure we can try, but based on the few anatomy lessons I've taken I think we might be missing a few key components" Diego teased, dropping the papers on the table and smirking at the man who gave him the stink eye in return, crossing his arms on top of his chest.  
"Okay fine, I'll bite, what's up?"

"It's just..." Klaus trailed off, finally sitting up, his legs crisscrossed and his skirt riding up his thighs a little as he moved, "I keep thinking, if someone had adopted me when I was younger, if the system hadn't completely fucked me over, maybe I would've turned out alright ya know? I don't regret where I ended up but thinking back I wish I could've avoided it all. The drugs, the drinking... Maybe we could help.  
I mean look, we're in a stable relationship, we both have supporting families, we have a big house, good jobs we could do this. Plus, when have you ever turned down a challenge?"

Diego eyed Klaus carefully, reading his face. Klaus gave him a lopsided smile and inched forward, laying his head on his partner's chest.  
"This really means a lot to you uh?" Diego questioned, despite the fact he already knew the answer.  
"Yeah... Yeah, it does."  
"Alright let's do this."  
Klaus looked up, with hopeful eyes and Diego kissed him in return. After all, Diego could never say no to him.

///HELLO///GOODBYE///

"I can't believe you're actually doing this." Eudora said from her spot inside the car. They were on their way back from a painfully long stakeout.

"I know. Neither can I, but Klaus was just so passionate about it" He held onto his belt with a knuckle tight grip, one hand on his holster and the other nervously tapping against his gun.

"Diego Hargreeves, badass cop, cousin to a world-famous actress, maker of a mean cup of joe and now, father. Has a nice ring to it." His best friend said with an all-knowing smirk.

Diego just huffed in return, his eyes focused on the road not really all there. "You've been watching too much Game of Thrones."

Detective Patch just laughed in return, cutting the engine and making her way out of the car.

"Alright I really gotta go, Klaus will have my head if I don't make it in time, he's been having like, hour-long email conversations with the child services lady and I'm scared of what will happen." Diego swiftly made his out of the cop issued car and started walking towards his own, parked not too far from the station.

"Hey, Hargreeves!" Diego flipped around, seeing Eudora standing where he had left her moments ago. "Relax alright, you're going to do great I believe in you."

With a new found confidence, he smiled and walked away.

///hello///goodbye///

"So this is the boy we wanted you to meet!" The lady said in a chirpy voice. She wasn't old, not old like Diego had been expecting her to be, brown hair up to her shoulders, short (she was Vanya's height, Diego's mind supplied) but well dressed.

Klaus gave his hand a squeeze and Diego brought his knuckles up to his lips and gave a quick kiss. The curly haired boy smiled back, leading him to the conference room the lady (Clara? Clarice?) had mentioned to them early.

And there stood, indeed, a boy. He was tall, slim, slicked back black hair and an incredibly bored expression. He was sitting at the table at the back of the room, entertained writing something on his notepad.

"Before you go talk to him, there's a couple of things we should run by you.  
His name his Five. His parents never actually cared enough to give him a proper name but he liked it. Abandoned at a young age after his parents experienced the first signs of his autism. He acts like he's completely capable, doesn't need anyone else, but please remember he's only like this because he was alone for so long. His parents would leave him home for, sometimes weeks, without checking up on him, before they just gave up and left him at a police stations doorstep."

Klaus gave a shaky breath, the whole story hitting a little bit too close to home. Diego leaned and kissed his temple.

"Still wanna do this?" He whispered in his ear, knowing full well how much it hurt Klaus to be anywhere near anything that reminded him of his days in the system.

Sometimes Diego would wonder, how come Vanya never turned out like Klaus? But then he would remember, how she would get when she was on her meds, completely blanking out the world, how sometimes she'd come to their house and wouldn't say anything she'd just stand there and stare at walls. Everyone dealt with their trauma differently Diego supposed  
.  
"Of course. Let's go." Klaus smiled at the lady (Connie!) and led Diego towards the table 'Five' was sitting at, setting themselves down in front of him.

"So you are the two idiots who plan on adopting me?" Five asked, nonchalant. Diego was taken back, I mean he knew the kid was going to be cold and distant but he hadn't expected... well that. Klaus, on the other hand, looked absolutely thrilled, if that was because the kid was clearly a no-fucks-given type or simply because hey they were this fucking close to adopting a kid, Diego couldn't be sure, but Klaus hadn't stopped smiling since they sat down so he guessed that was good news.

Five didn't give them the time of day, returning back to his notebook, Diego noticed he was doing math. Lot's and lots of complicated math. Don't get him wrong, Diego wasn't dumb or anything, but it wasn't like he was exactly gifted in the brain department, so this was going to be a challenge for sure.

"We are indeed! If that's okay with you of course. I'm Klaus, and my partner here with the brooding Batman look is Diego. Don't let his all black all spandex look throw you off, he's a complete sweetheart, total mommas boy."

"It's leather." Diego replied, exasperated. A decade-old argument really, that would clearly never reach a conclusion if Klaus' teasing smile was anything to go by.

Five looked between the both of them, clearly bored, and looked back down to his work. "Cool."

"Look, kid, if you don't talk to us we're not going anywhere. Let's at least try to have one conversation without distractions alright?" Diego was getting impatient. If it wasn't for Klaus he'd already left. Look he didn't want to bad mouth the kid, he had his own issues, but Diego knew there'd be other kids out there who'd be far more enthusiastic to get a chance at adoption.

Five sighed and closed his book. "Fine, let's talk."

Klaus looked at Five like he'd just pulled the sun out of the sky and that was enough to convince Diego that they wouldn't leave this room without starting the adoption process.

///heLLO///GOODbye///

"So this is what, kind of like a trial run?" Allison asks, sipping on her coffee, expensive nails clicking against the wooden table. Luther was sitting to her left, Diego sitting across from them both.

"Sort of. I mean it gives people the chance to return the kids if it doesn't work out, or if it does, to officiate the adoption." Diego looked at his phone again, for what was probably the 10th time the last minute. He was nervous, sue him. Klaus was supposed to pick up Five today so they could start this whole thing once and for all.

"You sure you ready for it man?" Luther asked, and Diego gave him the stink eye. He knew he wasn't ready but he would never admit that to Luther of all people. Luther and he had a sort of, friendly rivalry as Allison liked to so eloquently put it. 'Two alpha males fighting for the limelight' was how Klaus had once put it, Diego supposed both of them were right.  
Luther lifted his hands in a defence position. "I'm just saying, you're not exactly the fatherly type and Klaus doesn't have any parent figures to base off of, I'm just trying to be realistic."

Before he could answer (and attempt Luther's murder via butter knife) Allison stepped him, putting one hand on top of Diego's hand and the other on top of Luther's arm. "Relax the both of you. Diego and Klaus are going to do fine, aunt Grace is amazing and if anything we can trust that. Plus we don't exactly have the best parents either and Claire has turned out fine so far hasn't she?"

Allison to the rescue, always the sweet talker that one.

And as if summoned by God, Diego's phone rang, the caller reading 'Klaus'. Diego knew it was time to leave and face the music. With one last encouraging hand squeeze from Alison and a (rare) smile from Luther. he left the coffee shop and picked up the call

///HEllo///gooBYE///

"- anyways keep your shoes at the door we don't wear those at home. Klaus doesn't wear socks at home either but that's because he's weird and he likes tempting fate." Diego concluded, hanging his coat and putting his shoes away, watching Klaus do the same and instructing Five to do so too.

"Right got it, no shoes." Five mumbled like it was the most ludicrous thing he'd heard in his life but to be fair the kid acted like everything either of them said was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard.

"Mine and Klaus' room is this one to the left yours in the one at the end of the hallway. We haven't decorated much so we can go out next week or something pick out some stuff you like."

"Where do you keep the coffee?" Five suddenly asked.  
"The coffee?" Klaus raised an eyebrow.  
"Yes, the coffee, which part of that isn't clear to you?"  
"Why does a kid your age need coffee?" Diego scoffed, kissing Klaus shoulder as he moved onto the kitchen area.  
"I don't need coffee, but I want coffee. Also, don't call me kid." Five made his way to the kitchen, sitting down at the table, legs crossed with a smile of someone who knew they had won.  
Diego sighed and grabbed a second mug to make them both coffee. Five beamed and leaned back against the table.

"Nice skirt by the way" Five said, giving Klaus a tiny, but genuine nonetheless, smile.

"Oh, well danke." Klaus twirled a little before laying down on the sofa.

Diego and Klaus shared a look. Here's to a new life.

///HELLO///GOODBYE

"So you're staying with Vanya for today got it? Don't give her too much trouble." Diego gave Five a pointed look and he scoffed as he finished putting his shoes on.

"Who's this Vanya anyways?" Five asked as they exited the house, Klaus locking the door behind them.

"My sister! My wonderful, brilliant, adorable, sister." Klaus smiled dragging Five to the backseat of his and Diego's car as they started their journey.

Klaus and Vanya had a rough relationship at first, their childhood and teenage years in the system drove them apart, but after Klaus' first overdose scare (before Diego was even in the picture) they decided to step up and be there for each other. Ever since they'd gotten really close. Klaus made sure to go to every show Vanya had, and Vanya made sure to go to every gallery opening and art event Klaus was featured in. They had bi-weekly family game nights (with Allison, Luther and Claire whenever they were free) and whenever Diego had a particularly hard or long case Klaus would always stay over at Vanya's.

"I wonder if she's half as eccentric as you." Five mused. He would never admit it, but he admired Klaus in that way. He was so, unapologetically himself, always in the moment, living without caring about others opinions.

"Oh god, not even close. Vanya and Klaus couldn't be more different if they tried. She's a violinist, quiet, small. Klaus' opposite really." Diego laughed, earning him a light slap on the arm.

Five was excited to meet this 'Vanya'.

\---  
"Thank you for taking care of him in such short notice, we just have a lot on our plate we need to take care of." Diego rubbed the back of his neck nervously as Klaus just jumped in and tackle-hugged his sister, who gave a short laugh and huff.

"It's no worry really, I don't have any lessons today or anything." Vanya welcomed them into her small apartment, leading Five to her couch and grabbing her mug, probably tea.

"I owe you, one sis. See you this Friday at ours for family game night?" Klaus asked as Diego hurridly pulled him out the door.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." She giggled lightly, waving both boys goodbye.

"Bye Vee!" Klaus yelled over his shoulder as the door closed behind them.

\-----

"So you play the violin?" Five asked, scribbling some complicated looking math on his notebook, looking back at his laptop every once in a while with expert eyes.

"I do, but don't worry I won't practice while you're here." She gave him a tight smile, making her way around the kitchen to make Five a cup of coffee she'd been informed he 'couldn't live without'.

"No, actually I was going to uh, to ask you if you could play for me?" Five asked, his voice going quiet and his eyes wide open hopeful. Vanya had heard from Klaus and Diego he was very independent, self-assured and she could tell that, so to see this little bit of vulnerability from him? She wasn't going to waste that.

Vanya set the water to boil and grabbed her violin from the case and started playing, half facing the window half facing Five. She let her eyes fall closed and her fingers play when she noticed Five was more distracted by his work than anything else that was happening.  
The violinist let the music fill her apartment, softly playing as time seemed to still.

When she finished her song she opened her mouth to ask Five what he'd thought, but she found the young boy fast asleep. Giving him a soft smile she moved his work out the way and covered him in a soft blanket.

Five wasn't someone who let himself be vulnerable near others, Vanya could relate to the sentiment, so as soon as the young boy fell asleep on her couch she knew him and her had created a bond.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more moments of their little home life. Just Diego, Klaus and Five being Diego, Klaus and Five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick reminder these aren't in any particular order and they weren't written to be in a linear narrative if you feel like a certain scene should've been before or after another particular scene that up to you to decide! They can be read as if they're in chronological order but I didn't write them with the intention of that.
> 
> Also as usual if you see any mistakes while reading please point them out to me!

"Remind me again why I have to wear this stupid thing?" Five struggled with the tie around his neck, pulling and pushing it around, tangling and untangling. Diego sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and gon on one knee, making himself more or less Fives height and tying his tie for him.

"Because I said so little man." Diego shrugged and got up, finishing up himself and leaning against the dresser, watching Five as he put on his shoes.

Diego had learned two very important things about Five in the time they'd been together, the first thing was that he absolutely hated being called kid, and to be fair it wasn't hard for Diego and Klaus to find alternatives since Five acting nothing like a 13-year-old kid and more like a mentally exhausted 58-year-old grandpa, and the second thing was that he absolutely hated asking for things, especially help, but he glowed when people just helped him without asking. This one was a little trickier at first, how can you give someone what they want if they don't ask? But it turns out Five had other hints when he needed things.   
When he was feeling particularly touch starved, when he started drifting away, he'd get this far away look on his eyes and he'd linger on closer to people than normal, in those moments Klaus and Diego worked in little touches, in Klaus' case they'd turn into big demonstrations of affection, hugs and cuddles and whatever else Klaus could come up with to smother and annoy Five with, Diego liked to think he had a little more finesse, a hand in his back, touching his hand, letting Five hold his hand a little longer when he handed his cup of coffee...  
When Five struggled with something and he didn't want to ask for help he'd turn into a little demon brat from hell, he'd make a show in front of them to guarantee that they'd see that hey! he needed help! and they better get there and help or he was going to snap and sulk for the rest of the day.   
It was little things really, but it mattered. It mattered to Klaus and Diego that he's started showing them emotion, starting to open up little by little, and it mattered to Five (maybe more than he'd care to admit) that there were people out there who actually took the time to pay attention and learn about what he wanted and needed.

"Alright, you gonna hurry up or what? We have to be there in 20 minutes or well miss the opening speech." Diego called out from the kitchen, grabbing his car keys from the counter.

"It's not like we haven't heard it one thousand times already or anything." Five scoffed, finally walking out of his room, looking like the prestige little college boy he acted like.

"Be nice, Klaus worked hard on this the least we can do is support him." Diego handed Five his jacket and ushered them both out of the apartment and into his car.

"What's gotten you so worked up about this anyways? As you said, it's not like you haven't seen the art before or anything." Starting their short journey, Five reached across and turned on the radio, the station pre-set to some classical station Five liked to listen to.

"It's just... Lot's of people, lots of noise. Not used to it." He mumbled out, voice muffled by his hand as he gnawed on his nails.

Diego looked softly to the boy who sat beside him, who hasn't taken his eyes off the road, standing so straight Diego could swear he had a literal stick up his ass, eyes tense and his shoulders raised with pressure.   
Diego made a move and took Five's hand into his, stopping him from his band nail biting habit, and just held it between them, neither of them really looking at each other, but the pressure from Fives shoulders and jaw seemed to dissipate a little second by second.

When they finally arrived, Diego cut off the engine and turned to face Five, and Five faced back for the first time since he'd entered the car. "If things get too much you tell me okay? Me, Klaus or Vanya, the first one of us you can find. There's nothing wrong with leaving too early I mean, we know exactly what's going to happen, we raid the food table and get the hell outta dodge alright?"

Five nodded. Diego smiled back and gave his shoulder a small squeeze.

"Alright, time to face the music."

/// ///

"I thought Dolores was a real person I hadn't realized..." Five trailed off, looking at the mannequin in front of him, dressed head to toe in different sequin related items, a fake blonde wig on her head and different paint and makeup smears all over her 'body'.

"A mannequin?" Diego snorted, "Yeah I know, trust me when Klaus first came home with Dolores I wasn't exactly sure what to make of her either, but I gotta say she's growing on me." He mused.

"Don't listen to them Dolores, you're beautiful and amazing and neither of them will compare." Klaus held his tattoed hands over where the ears would be, if store mannequins had ears, and kissed her cheek lovingly.

"So why we getting Dolores out the attic anyway?" Five watched as the two men struggled to carry a mannequin and about three boxes filled to the brim with random art supplies.  
He made no move to help them.

The little shit.

"Because I need her for inspiration. She's my muse, my Mona Lisa, my -"  
"Because Klaus is so gay he can't draw women's bodies."   
Diego smirked, Klaus hissed, Five sat down on the sofa and watched with amusement.

"So she's just going to stay here in the living room watching us? A tad creepy but not the weirdest thing that's happened in this godforsaken household." Five shuddered, random flashes of very awkward (possibly sex-related) accidents from their first weeks living together playing in his mind.

"Actually about that..." They both looked at him with hopeful eyes. Five looked at the two idiots, looked at the doll, looked back and them and he bolted up. "Absolutely not! You are not leaving that thing in my room!"

They ended up leaving Dolores in Fives room.

Which, in hindsight, might've been a mistake, because not only did Five end up falling asleep curled up with Dolores (torso up) but he started seriously finding every excuse he could to 'spend time with her'.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways." Klaus had said and shrugged.  
"Didn't you spend a month insisting God was a little girl in pigtails?"

/// ///

Klaus was dancing. And singing. And miming. And honest to God doing every single annoying thing on the book.   
Obnoxious and loud and-

Five closed his book abruptly. He wasn't even reading anything at this point, he was just furiously scanning words and trying to concentrate on anything above the sound of Beyonce.

Klaus didn't even notice, he was so busy with his theatricals that almost everything that was going around him had been erased from existence.  
Sometimes Klaus would get so lost in his head it's like nothing else minded. Noone else.

Five had heard brief stories of Klaus before Diego, before sobriety, stories from days where he was constantly high and drunk and God knows what else. Diego wasn't there for the worst, them meeting was pretty much a stepping stone for Klaus to get better. Vanya, for all that was worth she did try, hadn't exactly been close to Klaus until, well until his first overdose, so Five couldn't extract more from her than what she knew.  
Sometimes Five did wonder, how bad did things get? He wondered if he stayed in the system as long as Klaus if he wouldv'e somehow turned out like him, Five doubted it, but life had a funny way of working.  
But it was in moments like this when Klaus closed his eyes and blocked the world, when he seemed most vulnerable, that Five got a glimpse at what those days might've been like.

Regardless of all that, Five was truly, deeply, madly annoyed.   
"Klaus." Five said, voice normal but venom dripping from every letter.  
"Klaus." He tried again, this time louder. Klaus paid him no mind.  
"Klaus! For god's sake, can you take your annoying dancing somewhere else? Some of us are actually trying to use our brains!" Five scoffed, rising up from his seat at the kitchen table as he raised his voice.

Five didn't think he would ever regret anything in his life as much he regretted that moment. The second the words left his mouth he felt his entire body go into alert mode.   
Klaus looked so small, so weak and so scared, big doe eyes looking at Five as he tried to shrink into himself, a feat in itself because Klaus was all long legs and even longer limbs. At that moment Klaus looked like fragile China, hanging on the edge of the table just a breath away from falling and breaking into a million pieces, bleeding into the floorboards.

A silence settled between them, so thick and too heavy it made Fives head hurt. It felt like it was crushing him, pushing him into the ground, like he was Atlas holding up the sky.   
It may have only been a few seconds but it felt like an eternity.

Klaus, for his part, composed himself quickly, but the shake in his hands was undeniable. He cleared his throat and tried his best to stand up straight, quickly turning off the radio. "Sorry about that, I didn't even notice you were doing youre thing. I'll uh, I'll leave you too it, I need to do some cleaning anyways, throw away some old art supplies..." He trailed off, gave Five a tight smile and walked away. Five swore he could see the little rain cloud above his head.

Old Five wouldn't have done anything, would've let Klaus walk-off without a second thought and he would've returned to his book, maybe even making a 'finally some peace and quiet' remark; but that was the old Five, the new Five actually kinda liked these idiots, and the new Five was slowly working on letting his emotions shine through, learning to open up.

So he mustered up all the courage he could and ran after Klaus.  
"Wait for Klaus, just hang on a second." He grabbed onto his hand, effectively getting him to stop. Klaus was starting to cry. That, that was not good. Five had made plenty of kids (and some adults too, he could be vicious when he wanted too) cry before, but seeing it on Klaus? Knowing he caused it? It just didn't sit right with him. Not after everything he and Diego had sacrificed for him.

"Look Klaus I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap I was just getting annoyed and you weren't answering..." 'No excuses Five, this is your fault take responsibility' "and I shouldn't have yelled. I'm sorry I really didn't mean to."

Klaus looked at Five like hed just told him hed cured cancer. Diego called that smile the 'smile that could light up a pitch black room'.

"Awww did little Five just say sorry? Did he really just show emotions?" Klaus teased, but he hasn't made ana effort to let go of Fives hand, and Five, well Five hadn't exactly moved away either.

"Shut up you classless idiot." It lacked to typical punch, it was dry. Five didn't think he could make it mean right now even if he tried.

"C'mere you big ol' softie." and then he pulled him into a bone crushing hug. Five let himself melt into the hug, didn't really reciprocate it, but he didn't push away either, he had a reputation to keep after all.

"I hate you, I take everything back let me go."  
"You're free to go anytime you want."  
"I know"

/// ///

"Klaus do you know what time it is? Go to sleep." Diego mumbled into his pillow, using the arm around Klaus' wait to pull him closer.

"That's not me." Klaus answered back, sitting up in his bed so quickly Diego thought the apocalypse might be coming.

"Whadyamean?" Diego answered back, very eloquently and not at all slurred.

"I mean Dee, that's not me. I think Five's screaming." And that's all it took for Diego's cop (and dad) instincts to kick in. He shared a brief look with Klaus before they both darted out of bed into Fives room.

Five was thrashing around, screaming nonsense so loud Diego was scared the neighbours might hear them.

"F-f-ive? f-f-ive you n-need t-to- Shit!" Diego grabbed at his hair. Goddamn him and his stupid stutter and his stupid disability that he couldn't even take care of his kid right and-   
Klaus put his hand on Diego's bicep, derailing his mental breakdown. Right, now wasn't the time.

"Five? Five sweetheart you gotta wake up. Five we're right here, just Diego and Klaus there's no one else, we're here with you." Klaus used a soft yet loud voice, walking closer and closed to the boy with each word. One syllable one step, one syllable one step until he was practically craddling Five.

"Five, hey we're here, you're okay." Five looked beyond terrified, even as he let himself be held. Klaus had never seen him like this, he was always composed, proper, all sharp wait and sharper words, but now he was a mess. That was the best way to describe it a mess, eyes wide, pupils dilated, drenched in sweat, hair sticking in one hundred different directions, clinging to Klaus so tightly the older man thought he'd had the little moon crescents from his nails engraved in his skin for the rest of the week.

"Five what do y-you need?" Diego did the best he could, trying to keep himself calm, hoping to calm the boy along with him.   
That seemed to snap him out of his daze, his head snapping towards Diego with such force Diego was scared he might get whiplash.

"Dolores." Okay simples enough, they could deal with that. Diego moved to grab the mannequin of the floor and handed her carefully to Five, who let of assaulting Klaus' arm to clinging onto the doll.

Diego sat down at the edge of the bed, near his legs, and Five moved a little, seemingly a little more relaxed. He leaned back, his head resting on Klaus' chest, who wrapped his arms loosely around his shoulder.

"Wanna talk about it?" Diego was trying his best to remember his victim training, to keep himself open and inviting, to not scare Five off, get him to open up.

"No, just wanna go back to sleep."  
"Want us to leave?" Klaus asked this time, looking down at the boy in his arms, Five looked up back at him, and he opened his mouth. He seemed like he wanted to send them away, deal with his demons on his own but he bit his tongue and shook his head no. He laid back down and shook his head no again, this time for Diego who smiled softly in return.

Diego moved to sit more comfortably and made small patterns on Fives arms.

Five feel asleep quickly after that, and he only woke up in the morning because Diego and Klaus couldn't stop whisper-fighting about what to have for breakfast (pancakes or toast).

/// ///

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter I was thinking of doing some family bonding time, and I wanted to know what you guys thought of that.  
I'm also thinking of including Claire and since we didn't get a lot of characterization of her from the show Ill be mostly making up my own so I thought you guys could have a hand in with that!   
Do you think she should be older or younger than Five (i was leaning towards younger), what kind of relationship should the two have (i was thinking some friendly rivalry) and what her personality should be (my original idea was to pull inspiration from Erica Sinclair from Stranger things).   
So feel free to leave your opinions bellow!  
Also if there's any scenario you want to see the family in (doesn't have to necessarily be around the 3 mains characters, could be about the precinct, about Fives life before, about Klaus and Vanya, hell I'm even willing to write some Allison/Luther&Claire fluff if that's what you guys want!) don't hesitate to ask me and I'll see what I can do.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
This is the first part of two (or more depending on how well this series does). I've never written this fandom before so I'm sorry if anyone is a little OOC.  
Also please, if you see any mistakes or you have any type of criticism feel free to throw it my way!


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